Facilitating Investigations Week - 1

After reading the article by Michelle Marder Kamhi http://www.aristos.org/aris-04/rescuing.htm, I must say that I was immediately looking for a refuting article.  As one who came from the Visual Culture generation, I was taken back by some of the arguments that she was making against my field.  I will note two of them, and then pose my thoughts.  For my refuting article, I chose our friendly reading companion, Paul Duncum. http://vassarliteracy.pbworks.com/f/Duncum_visual_cultural.pdf

The Breakdown

Kahmi states: "By focusing on abstract questions of race, class, gender, and ethnicity, moreover, the visual culture approach to interpretation lays stress on politicized issues that divide society, rather than on shared human values and concerns."

This is a statement that I feel needs to be "focused on."  To start, artists of the early age (i.e Michelangelo, Leonardo, etc.), whole-heartedly focused on issues that divided society at that time.  Religion (which is referenced), would be one of them.  These artists focused on the political issue of religion regularly, which at that time, very much divided Society.  Slavery was prevalent, it has been said that homosexuality was common, women were not treated as equals, but Religion...It was a BIG DEAL!  There was no need to really sell Religion, as it was sure persecution if one chose a different path.  I believe that focusing on issues today, are no different than those of the fine artists, who focused on issues of their time.

Kahmi states:

Postmodernist genres such as "Pop art," "installation art," and "video art" have nothing essential in common with the traditional visual arts and therefore should not be classified or studied with them as "art."

She is correct that there is little in common with with traditional visual arts, as the mediums used back then are still being used today, but are being used to portray a different message.  I want to make clear, however, that mediums have changes.  An artist's pallet has been modified to different mediums that were not being used back then, as they simply did not exist.  I believe that Michelangelo would have used a camera, had he gotten the chance.  The beauty of art and culture is that it is constantly changing, with society (which consistently changes).  Our ability to adapt to different environments is one of the keys to our survival as human beings.  This calls for cultural awareness.  If we do not understand culture, we will not be able to adapt to what is around us.  

Nick Kremer (AWESOME) wrote in an assignment I was recently investigating in his class:

At its narrowest, [Art] is a collection of visual masterpieces deemed so over time by “experts” in the field; at its broadest, all of creation. Most agree to a definition somewhere between these two extremes, citing other notable qualifications for art such as being “man-made,” “creative,” “aesthetic,” “purposeful,” or “holding metaphysical value” to the creator and/or its viewer”.


Well put, sir!